Deception to the End
A new look at the End-time prophecies and the complete contradiction the
Church teaches about it. 


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            The concept that the Revelation to John in the New Testament contains apocalyptic predictions resulting in the end of the world is perhaps the most popular prophetic paradigm in Christianity.  It centers on beliefs that an Antichrist will take over the world, and that God will send horrific plagues, mass genocide, and great destruction upon the Earth.  After great human suffering, and dire warnings from two mysterious witnesses, it will end in a "Great Battle in Heaven" against Satan and the eventual total destruction of the planet. 

            Actually, none of this appears in the Revelation, or anywhere else in the Bible, at least not relating to any modern era.  It has all been made up from whole cloth and owes its longevity to a reality most often referenced as being practiced with great success by the Propaganda Minister under Adolf Hitler.  Joseph Goebbels stated "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."  He also professed that "the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

            The truth, in this case, is definitely the enemy of the mass of lies told about what the Bible says concerning the future of humanity and the planet it occupies.  It does not require a genius or biblical scholar to prove that the Bible does not support the "Apocalypse" most Christians think is "cast in stone".  It simply takes two things; a concordance and a King James Bible.  A concordance is a book containing all the major words in the Bible and their location in scripture.  We use and recommend Strong's Exhaustive Concordance for its accuracy and the fact that it contains the original definitions of biblical words in scripture.  Online versions of Strong's and many other concordances are available.  Using one of these simple reference works one can complete a few practical study projects, such as the ones below related to the mythical concepts about the theoretical end of the world.

 1. The Antichrist:
            The "Left Behind" books and movie, as well as most other apocalyptic prophecies, center around the social concept that a charismatic and deceptive "person" known as the Antichrist will take over and rule the Earth.  Jesus will then return and depose him.  Surprisingly, many of the actual personality characteristics of this "Antichrist" are presented in detail by most end-time theorists.  He is handsome, persuasive, environmentally aware and very popular with the entire world.  He unites the nations of the globe and establishes a new "World Religion".  He is the man for all seasons and, not surprisingly, practices and teaches most things Fundamentalist Christians abhor.  Since he seems to be the main focus of the end-times prophecy, we will look at this concept first.

            The presence of the Antichrist in the Bible is pure myth.  Many mistakenly believe the entire Revelation to John is one long-running scenario about the Antichrist and his rise to and fall from power.  Using our research tools we find that the word "antichrist" only appears in the Bible four times, but never in the Revelation.  Those references can be found in 1John 2:18 & 22, 4:3, and 2John 1:7.  The only plural of the word is also in 1John 2:18.  One should read these verses in context, but the scenario is simple.  There was a man, a magician, named Simon Magus that exhibited great power after the death of Jesus.  He often challenged the power of the Apostles, was not ever mentioned as a world ruler, and actually joins with the apostles.  As one will find, there is no clear reference to such a character appearing near the return of Jesus, and bears no similarity to the apocalyptic Antichrist. 

            Not only does the word "antichrist" not appear in the Revelation, but no character like him can be found anywhere in the Bible.  No reference to world rule can be found before the 1000-year reign of Jesus and there is no mention of any world religion anywhere in scripture. A simple study of how the Bible defines religion will show that it is not a "church" concept, but a way of life not restricted to buildings or the practice of ancient rituals, pagan or otherwise, as Christianity would have us believe.  In the simplest terms; the concept of an apocalyptic Antichrist does not exist in scripture.   

2. Plagues, Genocide, Destruction, Human Suffering, Two Witnesses, and a Great Battle in Heaven
            It may seem strange to lump all these concepts into one study, but they are all very closely related.  It has to do with the concept of "three woes" first defined in Revelation 8:13.  Let's consider one very important key to this concept.  The second woe follows the first, (Rev. 9:12), and the third woe follows the second, (Rev. 11:14).  We point this out so there can be no doubt that these woes happen in distinct chronological order and because that order is so specifically detailed it cannot be disputed.  So let's look at exactly what these woes are. 

* The First Woe
            The First Woe described in Revelation 9 speaks about an angel with a key to a bottomless pit. From that pit comes smoke and the sun and the air were darkened by that smoke. From that smoke come monsters likened to locusts with the power of scorpions.  Although they are described as locusts they do no environmental damage.  They do, however inflict pain on mankind for five months. 

* The Second Woe
            The Second Woe begins with more monsters coming out of the pit and these fire-breathing hordes kill a great number of mankind, about a third.  This is followed by two witnesses walking the streets of Jerusalem and giving dire warnings about coming events.  They are killed, rise up in three days, and are taken into the sky in a cloud, as Jesus was.  This is followed by great hail and a massive earthquake. 

* The Third Woe
            This is the pivotal verse that sets the time when the first and second woes occur by clearly defining the timeline of this verse.   The concept that biblical prophecy confirms Satan will battle Jesus in the sky at his return is almost as widely accepted as the return itself. Nothing could be further from the truth.  In this woe we see a woman about to give birth to a child that is described as being "a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron".  There is no doubt that the only one ever described as having this destiny was Jesus, the Christ.  And his mother, Mary, was a princess of the Hebrew nation, a direct descendant of King David.  The Hebrew nation has 12 tribes, thus the "crown of twelve stars".  Satan is laying in wait to destroy the child, but that baby is taken to a place of safety, just as Jesus and family were whisked off to Egypt immediately following his birth. 

            As soon as Mary and the child are safe, Michael retaliates against Satan for his failed murder plot: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels," (Rev. 12:7) Satan was defeated and cast down to Earth at that time, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him", (Rev. 12:9).  We know that Jesus was probably born in the spring or summer of 4BC.  Herod the Great is generally believed to have died around 4 BC. Matthew 2:1 states that: "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king" and Luke 1:5 mentions the reign of Herod shortly before the birth of Jesus.  

            With these facts in mind we would be grossly mistaken to assume from this reality that this battle took place after the return of Jesus, when it is obviously described as occurring at the time of his birth.  In other words, contrary to popular belief this battle has already occurred.  The third woe is described as the misfortune the people of Earth must endure because Satan is down with them now. "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhibiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.", (Rev. 12:12).

            Considering the clear description that this is the third of three woes, the first and second woes must already have occurred, as well.  Therefore, the two monsters of the pit and the two witnesses of Jerusalem came and went before Jesus was born and therefore those prophecies have already occurred.  Trying to deny this is to simply ignore scripture on a grand scale. 

3. Planetary Destruction

            To satisfy what seems to be a well-established hate for anyone who does not conform to the strict guidelines required to enter their tightly-gated intuitional community called Heaven, Christian end-times theorists have decided to just destroy everyone and everything on Earth.  And, they seem to think it will happen right after their unforgiving god swoops them all up to their imaginary Heaven to get them out of the way of the devastation this fair and loving god is about to viciously throw at those he mistakenly created. It had to be an obvious mistake, or why else would he want to destroy and torture most of those he brought into existence.  Is it any wonder why most logical people reject the Christian concepts of what they believe is just and fair treatment of humanity; conform to our way or rot in a tortuous Hell.

            Well, again they are wrong.  Most will point to the end of the world as being verified by Jesus, when he answered a question delivered to him in Matthew 24.  "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?".  There it is, as plain as day, "the end of the world".  But, there is a problem with the word ‘world’; it does not mean the physical planet.  It is translated from the Greek word 'aion', from which we get the word ion and means "period of time, age".  Despite protests to the contrary he is being asked about the end of a period of time, not the planet and all life on it.  That would be very disappointing for those thinking that their inheritance is what the Bible actually says it is: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt. 5:5. 

            And, we have a real problem called total contradiction of fact.  That fact is that Jesus is predicted to immediately set up his government on Earth and maintain it for 1000 years.  A rather difficult task when the nations he is supposed to rule over have all been "left behind" and are struggling with the major problem of a fiery Hell.  Then there is an even more obvious problem with the end-times theories; the planet and all life on it where these nations reside do not even exist. 

In Conclusion

            It is difficult to say a lot about what this tells us, it is so simple. There is no Antichrist, most major disasters predicted by the "doom and gloomers" have already happened in our distant past, and the "two witnesses" everyone is looking for won't be coming back for an encore.  Add to this the fact that the "Great Battle in Heaven" is history, and that the world won't be coming to end anytime soon, and you have a pretty dull and anticlimactic "Apocalypse".  There are certain prophecies that may not be fulfilled, but at least they are somewhat more manageable than those already determined as either being out of context or sadly lacking any factual basis.  And, just one more thing, even after the end of the 1000-year reign, the world doesn't end.  Jesus just turns the world over to his Father.  The only thing these end-times theorists truly "left behind" is the truth.